Blizzardo in the NorthEast, Bird Flu, Spies and Lies, Wailing Whales

As I write, New Jersey and New York , my old stomping ground, are being hit by the first major snowfall of this Winter season. As of Now, 11:45 AM EST, Central Park has about 23 inches of snow.
Ah those North East Blizzards - what fun.
And the snow falls
silently, of course
and the North Wind a' blows
and everything gets
white.
The Trees get Covered in White.
Beauty in its most pristine.
The Evergreens are weighted with snow, their bottom branches touching the earth. And the falling snow is millions and millions of snowflakes, each one different and magnificent in its own glory, feeling no jealousy or hatred because the snowflake knows, that when it falls along with all the others, they make snow. Snowflakes make snow. THE SUM OF THE PARTS IS GREATER THAN THE WHOLE. SNOWFLAKES KNOW.
What a gift for Tu B'Shevat. I still have the Fiber Optic Tree going. The colours shift as the season s shift. I thought I would take it down after Tu B'Shevat, but I don't know if I can .
I also plugged in the Fiber Optic Snow Village in Honour of the Blizzard. And I'll Wear White Today.
However
The Silence
And the Beauty
are
Fleeting.

Then comes the hard part. Shovelling out. Yuch. Getting 23 inches of snow out of your driveway is neither pleasant nor easy. If you have had any type of cardiac event, snow shovelling is an absolute no no. Absolute. I know.
Since I'm in Florida now, I cannot help but muse upon the difference between blizzards and hurricanes.
The first Hurricane I Experienced was Charlie. My consciousness approached the upcoming storm with the consciousness of a blizzard. When a blizzard is coming, you prepare beforehand. Soup is a necessity. Blankets are a necessity. Usually, in Jersey anyway, you don't worry about power outages - I had them when I was up there, but that's why you have blankets.
Then it snows, and the wind blows, and you watch the silent snow falling, covering eveything with a blanket of white. And you listen to the North Wind Blowing - because the North Wind has a distinct sound - wwoooooooooooww- . And I always had at least 6 more inches than anybody else because my double driveway was a wind tunnel. Today, they're expecting 16-24 inches.
I don't have to shovel out. Ha.
Back to Hurricanes vs. Blizzards.
The most dangerous thing about a blizzard is being stuck in your car. That's how people die, and it is really human stupidity, not Mother Nature. You need shelter and warmth during a blizzard.
Hurricanes are completely different. First of all, Hurricanes are Named. Second of all, the storms are a long time comin' - they sit and spin and gain strength. Third of all, hurricanes are deadly of themselves.
Blizzards
Hurricanes
Both Water Based Storms.
Blizzards are prettier. Hurricanes are deadlier and more destructive.
I prefer blizzards over hurricanes.
hmmmm.

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Bird Flu, Avian Flu, is spreading. This is something very dangerous. Don't eat chicken. I stopped eating chicken months ago, but I have had chicken recently because I'm being fed by my neighbors, bless them. NO MORE EATING CHICKEN. Chicken? Little? I also stopped feeding the cats anything chicken based months ago, and wait until you see the whale story.
My opinion is that it is a mutant virus, feeding upon mutant birds. Viruses are smart - they need a host in order to survive. The fowl for food industry has become pretty disgusting over the years. Now there is a new class of fowl, mutated from the original species because the bird was taken out of its original habitat, and a new mutant virus. Good fit.
Nobody can figure out the path this virus is taking, or why. Now, with this new update, it seems that wild birds are being infected. That means that the virus has mutated again. Just like in "The Andromeda Strain", Michael Crichton's first book.

Fascinating.
New York Times says :
Bird Flu Detected in Greece, Italy and Bulgaria
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
Published: February 12, 2006
The lethal A(H5N1) bird flu virus has been detected in wild birds in Italy and Greece, European officials announced yesterday, the first time its presence has been detected in the European Union. It was also detected in Bulgaria.

Swans in Stavros, Greece. The bird flu virus has been detected for the first time in European Union nations, European officials said Saturday.

News Analysis: A Worrisome New Front (February 12, 2006)
"The bird flu virus has arrived in Italy," said Francesco Storace, the Italian health minister, at a news conference, announcing that 17 swans had been found dead in three southern regions, Calabria, Sicily, and Puglia.

Testing at the National Avian Influenza Lab in Padua determined the cause to be the A(H5N1) virus, he said, although it was not clear if all 17 swans had been tested.

The arrival of bird flu in Western Europe had been predicted for some months, since the virus has marched steadily from China, to Russia, to the Balkans and, in the last week, to West Africa.

It is being carried by migrating birds, so all countries on their flight paths are vulnerable.
"In some ways we would have expected it earlier in Italy," said Dr. Juan Lubroth, a senior veterinarian at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome.

The Italian outbreak seems to have been a model of early detection, underlining how bird flu can be controlled in countries that have the money and the scientific resources to do it.

Recent outbreaks in poor countries like Nigeria, Turkey and Iraq have percolated for months before they were discovered, allowing the virus to spread widely to commercial chicken flocks and even to humans.
While the A(H5N1) virus currently does not readily spread from human to human, scientists worry that it will mutate into a form that can, setting off a devastating worldwide human pandemic.

That is the first time I've heard it said that the virus is following the migratory bird routes.
BBC :
Last Updated: Saturday, 11 February 2006, 15:31 GMT
Bird flu hits new areas in Europe

Health officials step up precautions near Thessaloniki, northern GreeceThe deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus has reached three new European countries, officials have confirmed.

The virus has been found in wild swans in Sicily, and other cases are suspected elsewhere in Italy, the country's health minister says.
A specialist UK laboratory has identified the virus in dead swans found in northern Greece and Bulgaria.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed at least 80 people since early 2003, mostly in South-East Asia.
QUICK GUIDE
Bird flu
Seventeen migratory birds which had fallen ill or died were recovered from the Italian regions of Puglia, Calabria and Sicily.
Two of them - swans that were found in the Sicilian town of Messina - tested positive for the H5N1 strain, the Italian health ministry confirmed.

Click here for a map of global bird flu outbreaks

Greek health officials have intensified precautions in areas near Thessaloniki, Greece's second-largest city, where three migratory swans tested positive for the H5N1 strain.

Tests carried out in a UK laboratory also confirmed the deadly bird flu virus in wilds swans found in the Bulgarian wetland region of Vidin, close to the Romanian border.
Bird flu journey Watch how the lethal virus has spread

I'm just presenting the data here.

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As for spying and lying, what has been concealed is being revealed.
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No Wonder the Little Bottle Noses were wailing.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4700418.stm

Last Updated: Friday, 10 February 2006, 14:19 GMT

Whale meat 'made into dog food'
Meat from whales caught under Japan's "research" programme is so abundant that it is being sold as pet food, according to a UK conservation group.

Thousands of tonnes of whale meat has been stockpiled as more animals are killed each year, says the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS).
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That's about all I can read of it myself. If you need more, click on the link.
Whales are mammals. That's cannabilism. Disgusting.
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The seven species for Tu B'Shevat are wheat, barley, grapes, figes, pomegranites, olives and dates.
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I'm zapping myself up to Jersey to watch the Snow.
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Peace
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